The present invention relates to animal traps. More particularly, this invention is directed to animal traps of the type characterized by jaw members which, after triggering of the trap, are projected toward the animal to be captured. United States Class 43, Subclasses 63, 85-88, 90 and 92 are believed most relevant.
In the prior art a vast array of animal traps have been devised. Typical animal traps include some form of spring biased jaw members adapted to compressively capture an animal (or portion of an animal) therebetween. Usually some form of centrally located trigger mechanism is employed to activate the jaws in response to animal contact. Simple prior art devices of this general description are disadvantageous in that they often damage the pelt of the animal to be trapped, or otherwise injure or maim the animal. Moreover, such traps may cause the animal to suffer unnecessarily prior to its death. Besides the foregoing problems inherent with basic prior art traps, such technology is usually characterized by relatively insensitive trigger mechanisms. A more basic weakness of such designs is that the natural tendency of the animal to quickly attempt to withdraw its paw or leg after the trigger is tripped often enables it to avoid capture by evading the rapidly closing jaws.
Numerous attempts have been made to improve trap trigger mechanisms. Moreover, several prior art attempts have been made to include some form of apparatus for moving the closing jaws toward the animal to overcome the tendency for the animals to withdraw their paws or legs. Examples of prior art in which jaws or some form of equivalent mechanisms are simultaneously closed and substantially concurrently projected toward the animal may be seen in previously issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,421,610; 2,123,789; 1,191,909; and 2,292,695. In my previously issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,124 I have explained many of the problems with such prior art traps. In that invention I provided a trap in which the basic jaw mechanism was thrust vertically upwardly relative to the lower housing of the trap in an attempt to pursue the elusive animal as the spring jaws are closing.
However, even where the basic jaw mechanism is thrust toward the animal after detonation, prior art designs are often severely limited by the unitary character of their construction. It is extremely important for traps of this nature to quickly and reliably pursue the withdrawing animal, while at the same time insuring that the jaws close in a correct position relative to the animal to be captured. Therefore a binary trap in which the jaw mechanism is completely expelled from the trap frame for subsequent capture of the animal is suggested.